Chanson Des Loups
by Striped-Tie
Summary: A/U. Definitely A/U. Quiet, seaside towns always seem to be the places where weird or annoying things swarm to. Seagulls, Starfish... Supernatural Creatures. Poor, poor Leon. Check most recent chapters for current character list.
1. Werewolves go 'Woof'

A/N;

The title of this will probably change because I don't trust translators XD I'm waiting for my friend that knows french or not whether it translates properly. 'Song of the Wolves' it's meant to be, but as said will probably change XD

This is mainly just something fun for myself when I can't sleep xD It's a stupid little Nonsense A/U fic. If that isn't obvious enough. Don't worry, don't worry, I'm still writing my relatively normal albeit rather strange fics. This is just a guilty pleasure, a writing experience and I'm uploading it incase some people get the same lolzy kicks I do.

For those that need reasoning behind this as well as want to know a little tidbit about myself, I'm a fopllklore nut. So mix that with my Resident Evil fixation, and well. Just don't ask questions.

There are meant to be little tidbits at the ends of each chapter to explain well, you know. Creatures mentioned. Not everything will be spot on, so yeah. Don't kill me.

Characters so far : Chris, Claire, Joseph, Leon, Barry (mentioned).

Resident Evil - Not Mine, it belongs to Capcom.

* * *

There are usually two types of train rides known throughout the world. Those that are bumpy and noisy, making passengers have to hold on tightly to their seats, and of course the opposites. The train rides that were quiet and serene, usually with carriages that somehow remained old and rustic but comfortable, charming.

A steady, easy traveling train made its way through a lush green countryside, the rail lines barely visible in its surroundings. The tracks ran below a tall, slanted hill set on one side, while a beautiful view of the ocean could be seen over the adjacent side. The area looked rather untouched, other than the rail lines of course, and the road above the hills.

A few sea birds soared high above, their colours blocked out by the sun above. It had been raining, hours early, at a different stop along the routes. The skies had cleared further down, which allowed the sun above to highlight the view.

"I can't believe this… This is stupid!"

But of course there was always at least one person who wasn't happy.

"The sun's too bright, the grass outside is dreary, the ocean reeks and this train ride is bumpy!"

The red-head exhaled loudly, drawing it out for some time while crossing her arms tightly against her chest. Leaning back against the seat's soft cushion, she craned her neck back, head resting against the top. She kicked the back of her heels against the polished, wooden support, sending a few soft vibrations through it. She huffed, concentrating on the ceiling, refusing to acknowledge the world out side.

"No it's not. You're just complaining."

A hand brushed some hair from her eyes, causing the young woman to fidget and swat at the wrist, shoving the offender's shoulders soon after. She huffed, tossing her brother a glare as he simply chucked in response to her actions.

"What's wrong? Having withdrawals about the old city lights and cafes already?" He jested, nudging her with his elbow. Her glare didn't let up, as she seemed steadfast in her distaste to whatever the situation must have been.

"So what if I am? That was our _home_, Chris. What's happening to us isn't fair – At all." Her voice was harsh and sharp, but let slip the devastated she was. Her brother simply shook his head, leaning forward. He rested his elbows on his knees, glancing at his sister from the corner of his eye. In truth… He knew she was right.

"There is… There was nothing we could do about it. You know that, Claire, now stay seated and hush up."

"We could have _killed_ them." She snapped, sitting up straight. Chris shifted, looking his sister dead in the eyes. A look that would have made most flinch, nearly including his kid sister, but her gaze held strong.

"And if I agreed with you now," He began, his words slow and stern, making sure she picked up the seriousness in each one, "Could you look back and say you would have killed them?"

She faltered at the question, hesitantly looking away from Chris. Although she thought over it, she knew very well her answer. "U… Uh, no…"

He gave his sister a pat on the shoulder, shaking his head. "You're too soft natured for all of that violent talk, Claire." He said, "We're just going to have to grin and bare it, get used to the new place."

She muttered slightly, frowning as she did so. Chris gave her another nudge, as if trying to coax her into accepting the situation.

"… You know, Claire did have a point. The food's kind of sorta really horrible."

The siblings quickly looked at the young man sitting across from them. He hadn't spoken up in some time, which was certainly against his character, and they had apparently completely forgotten his pretense across from them. They both blinked, getting almost startled.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. How long have you been here, Joseph?" Chris cocked an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his knees again. Joseph, in turn, brought his hand to his face.

"The whole time, Chris!" Joseph answered, unable to fight a smile. "My god, man, you're meant to be all Mr. Leader and you can't even remember I'm here! Numbskull."

"Hey hey hey, I'm tired as all hell, don't blame me for getting a little forgetful." Chris rebutted, "And what do you mean the food was horrible? It wasn't that bad!"

"Dude, are you kidding me? We've been on a plane, and this is our second train! You've had nothing to do _but_ sleep!" He stated, throwing his arms up in the air, flailing about, "And what do you mean the food wasn't _that bad_?!"

"Shh!" Both men quickly covered their mouths. Claire continued to hold a finger over her lips as a stewardess, one that had brought their food earlier, casually worked past, wheeling through a trolley. As soon as she passed, all three breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was to be kicked off of the train. Claire wouldn't take it too fondly, that was for sure.

"Are… The others coming?" Claire's voice broke the silence that formed soon after. While she lacked the displeased looked, she seemed somewhat more… Down. Chris half smiled, trying to think of an answer. He knew exactly what she meant, but couldn't answer her with a response he was sure about.

"If they get dobbed in too, I gave Barry the location…" He explained, linking his fingers together, "… So really it's only a matter of time."

Claire sighed in response, long and sorrowful. First, kicked out… Chased out of home, then to get separated from her friends, or rather her family. It had all been far too quick, and as much as she complained and cried about it, it still had yet to sink into her mind.

"Now that that's all out of the way..." Chris began, taking a glance out of the window, "How are you feeling about moving to this place Claire-Bear?"

"Completely… And utterly... Bummed out."

* * *

"Today is not going to be a good day…" The blonde mumbled as he shoved the sheets onto the ground. "No, this whole week is not going to be a good week."

He looked off to the side, taking a slow glance at his door.

The room was relatively clean… Other than the mess. The bed sheets joined some stray articles of clothes beside the bed, perhaps the cleanliest part of the room. He knew quite well that he was practically blind in the mornings. Or, afternoons. Whenever he managed to wake himself up.

With the sun shining in his face, he knew it was time to get up. Even if he was quite reluctant to do so. Mumbling under his breath, he rolled to his side to sling his feet over the edge of the bed.

_Thud._

"Hello floor, how are you today? Good, I would hope? You wouldn't have given me such a friendly greeting if not." He muttered, easing himself up off the ground. He rubbed his nose, which the floor seemed particularly fond of, and managed to sit up on his knees. Still rather groggy, he lifted his hand to the bedside table, patting around, fingers tapping, trying to find something he couldn't actually remember.

His ID? Badge? Gun? Glasses? … He didn't wear glasses. Realising this he stood up, grabbing his keys and shoving them into his pocket. It had become a habit of his to sleep in his work pants lately, either too tired or lazy to change either in the morning or when he arrived back at work.

He'd only been living in this place for a month and he was already worn out. It was a lovely place, that was true, but… Somehow, it managed to be draining. Yes, this little town had problems, every town did. That was probably why the police department over here was hiring. He was lucky enough to get a job here, quickly.

He mumbled again, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it. Bit tidier, but as usual, it simply took to the habit of flipping over his eyes. Stupid unintentional, genetic emo fringe.

He kicked the clothes out of the way, making a path wide enough for him to walk over to the glass, slide door. He grabbed the handle, shoving it lazily open. The sea breeze blew in, warm and with a decent scent to it. The floor of the balcony was rather warm, not cold as he would expect back in his hometown.

He crossed his arms over the railings, glancing out over the view. His apartment was on the fourth floor, the building's foundation elevated by the rising slope it was built on. The setup reminded him of the Villas in Italy, though he'd only visited there when he was a child.

He breathed in, closing his eyes and simply enjoying the space around him. Even though he had a bad feeling, he couldn't help but feel some sort of relief about the place whenever he stood to see such a view. It had to be the mid afternoon at least, as from what he could tell so far, the whistles of trains could never be heard in the morning.

"Put a shirt on!"

"No, keep it off!"

His eyes quickly flew open as he heard the shouts, suddenly reminded that not only where there other people in the apartment, but also other people in the opposite buildings.

Alright. The locals of this town were awfully vocal. And it was still taking a lot of time to get used to. Remembering this, he swiftly ducked back inside and shut the doors, closing the curtains.

Okay, perhaps he should put a shirt on. Or maybe he shouldn't? Yes, today was definitely going to be a three coffee morning.

* * *

**Werewolves**

The werewolves in **Chanson des loups **are splices of  
Folklore stemming mainly from France. The werewolf featured  
in the French poem, _Bisclavret, _had a controlled, sweet and  
loving nature until the appearance of the knight that married his wife.  
Self control and reasoning borrows from this story.

France for some time appeared to have two variations of  
Werewolves, the _loup-garou_ and _lubins/lupin_s. While the  
Former were aggressive, the latter were usually female and  
Shy in comparison.

The werewolf trait is hereditary within this story.  
One family tree may be more placid than another.  
Full canine form can be taken at any time (given  
That the individual is well rested), but are forced to  
Take an anthropomorphic form during a full moon.

* * *

A/N; I'm still trying to work out what everyone is. I have quite a few down. Hey, you might wanna read just to know what everyone's been assigned XD

I also realised, it's fun writing Leon having a bad day 8D

Yes I'm sad I didn't reach 2k ;A;


	2. Cats go 'Meow'

A/N;

As there wasn't really anyone 'new' critter wise mentioned… I just decided to throw in one that will be brought up later XP

**Tani2 -** Haha, thank you ;3 Yes, thankfully it's meant to be rather odd 8D YAY SHIRTLESS LEON.

Current Characters : Chris, Claire, Joseph, Leon, Kevin, Barry (Mentioned).

Resident Evil - Naturally not mine.

* * *

"Hey Leon, are you alright? You look tired."

Leon tossed a glance at a workmate of his, who appeared kind enough to fetch him hat was his sixth coffee of the day. He gave a weary nod, taking a slip from the coffee as soon as it was given to him. He glances back to the manila folders in front of him, noting how very few documents he'd actually been given. Perhaps they didn't have the greatest confidence in him to give him, resulting in a lack of assignments. Maybe a good thing, letting him take everything slowly.

"I feel like I could fall asleep while using a dictionary as a pillow." Leon answered, "The caffeine's just worn down. That's all."

"Most people don't need two coffees two start up in the morning."

"Actually Ryman, it's my sixth."

The other officer gave him a pat on the shoulder, passing his own mug of coffee over to the man who would clearly need it more than he would. "I keep telling you, the name's Kevin! Don't bother with the formals around me." He chuckled, "And your sixth? Seriously? How little sleep did you get to need that much? Better off just munching on coffee beans!"

Leon shrugged simply in reply, not quite sure how to explain it to the officer. "I'm just having trouble getting used to this place." He went on, thinking about it for a few moments. "It's quiet and all but… I dunno, I can't really seem to sleep until it's light out. Something about the night here's kinda…"

"Oh yeah, a lot of people have that for awhile." Kevin said with a nod, "Lemme guess, feels unnerving? Don't worry! It's just the wildlife here that does that. Critters that go bump in the night and all."

"… Critters that go bump in the night?" Leon repeated, raising a brow. "Kevin, I think you've been watching that Chiller channel way too much. Next thing you know you'll be saying there are giant cockroaches in the trashcans and crocodiles in your sewers."

Kevin in turn looked shocked at him, flinching at the mention of giant cockroaches. "How… How did you know about those? Only the higher ups are meant to know about that! … And me overhearing about it and all."

Leon's mouth gaped open, but didn't have time to truly catch himself before Kevin thumped him on the back, laughing heartily.

"Don't worry man, I'm just pulling your leg!" He assured him, Leon settling down quite a bit, "Giant cockroaches aren't one of our things. Or crocs. Our systems are pretty good when it comes to those sorts of things. The government of the area spent about three years working on a good piping system. Crocodile free, I can assure you. And the cockroaches? Just take my word for it."

"You sure seem to know a lot about this place." Leon commented, somewhat impressed, even if it was rather useless information. It would probably put him at ease if he heard the pipes of the apartment rattling again.

"Yep! I've lived here all my life," Kevin said, smiling rather broadly, quite proud, "Sometimes I don't have any cases or things to look at, so I start learning about all the junk here."

"I guess that's gotta happen pretty often in a place like this. It's pretty quiet."

"Haha, on rare days! You just have to know the right places to look," Kevin said with a confident nod. Leon wondered if the man had ever given himself a concussion from nodding too much, "Once you know this place for long enough…"

"You pick up places, I think I get it." Leon nodded, taking another sip of his coffee. Damn he needed the caffeine hit again. His coffee maker must have been on the fritz, as it didn't seem to make a cup with near enough energy.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Lord knows when we're gonna get a nifty case again." Kevin said, turning and heading for the door before Leon could say or ask anything. He shrugged as Kevin left the room, grabbing one of the folders from the top of the pile and whipping it open. Hm, he did seem right, somehow, making Leon actually considering getting all of this business out of the way.

"Oh, wait!"

Leon jumped about ten metres in the air, theoretically of course, and quickly looked to the door. Ack, his neck. He wasn't meant to turn that quickly at that much a degree, he certainly knew that now.

Kevin had wondered back, pointing in Leon's direction. The man pursed his lips, as if trying to remember what he was originally going to say. He hummed, wondered on, before clicking his fingers and snapping back to it.

"I thought I should warn you! Don't stand on your balcony without a shirt," Kevin began, causing Leon to once again raise his brow in question, "A lot of people have cameras here, and most of the time photos end up on the internet."

Kevin paused as Leon pulled a face appropriate for the 'Ooo… Crap' feeling. "Come to think of it," His co-worker continued, "I think there's actually a website dedicated to the shirtless photos people have gotten around this area… I think they got me once, too. Hm, I'll have to remember to check it out next time I go to the library."

Leon blinked a few times, practically every sentence making him more and more confused about the place. "Yoooou… Go to the library?"

"Yes… Why do you look so shocked?" Kevin asked, tilting his head a fraction. "They don't have many books of what I like so… I check in pretty often to see if there's anything new I can gander at."

Before Leon could inquire what the subjects of books might be, out of curiousity mind you, Kevin was out the door once again.

"… Strange man." Leon commented to himself, gulping down the last of his coffee.

"Oh, Leon!"

And out went the rest of his coffee, all over his desk. "What?!" He looked over once again, hearing a slight 'crack' from his neck. Oh, oh that hurt. He was going to need an ice pack if he had to look over that quickly again.

"Are you allergic of cats at all?" Kevin asked on his third appearance that day.

"… No, why?"

* * *

"Holy fuck, that's a lot of cats!"

And indeed it certainly was. Stretched out on the footpath, happily dozing and enjoying the sun, was about two dozen cats. And not the baker's dozen. Ragdolls, Tabbies, Chinchillas, Russian Blues, Siamese, even a manx cat.

The loud statement from Chris was enough to catch the attention of a Snow Shoe, which promptly began meowing in the direction of the newcomers. Once it had started up, the group began, all except for one or two.

"What do you call a group of cats?" Joseph asked, scratching the back of his head, ignoring the striped bandana.

Chris shrugged, not really caring too much about such a question previously. "A pride? Claire, do you know? … Claire?"

He didn't receive a reply. Looking beside himself to his younger sister, he should have realised. As soon as cats were entered into the equation, she was completely out of it.

"A Clowder or a pounce," She squealed rather loudly, with quite a bit of pitch, "Oh my gosh…!"

Neither men bothered to try and stop the young woman as she practically pounced on the pounce of cats.

"Have we figured it out yet?"

"Figured what out yet?" Chris asked, not taking his eyes off his sister, or the group of cats that surrounded her as she kneeled down.

"… Why she seems to love the furbags so much."

"_They're so cute, Chris!"_

Despite Claire's rather impressive set of canines, as well as having both a bite and a bark just as bad as one another, Claire Redfield seemed to have what could only be described as an unconditional love for felines.

And they seemed to adore her back.

"Remember Claire, most of these cats have owners… All of these cats have owners, so don't even ask." Chris warned, crossing his arms sternly, knowing all too well what was coming.

"But Chris, what if they don't?!" Claire gasped, turning to look at her brother as a cat latched onto her left arm, another plopping itself comfortably in her lap. She looked back to the group, picking and holding up one of the tabbies from the crowd. "Chris, this one's pregnant! I wonder if another tabby's the daddy? Or maybe it's a mixed…"

"Claire…"

"Kittens are so cute! And oh gosh, there's a Scottish fold! Have you ever seen anything more adorable in your life?!"

"Claire…"

"Holy crap…"

"Cla… Wait, what?" Chris had very much expected another rather, fangirlish statement from the girl. No matter where they went, if there were cats they hadn't seen before, a scene like this would take place. Though usually it was either a singular cat, or maybe one or two. The girl must have been in absolute overload.

Claire pointed off to near the back of the group. Sitting rather comfortably, though not meowing, was a Tortoiseshell patterned cat.

"Holy _fuck, _that cat is massive!!" Joseph managed to come up with exactly what Chris wanted to say when he saw the certain feline.

Yes, that one cat there was quite large. Not fat, but particularly big. While most cats were a good twenty inches long, thirty five or so if you count the tail, this one creature… was a good fifty five, sixty maybe. And that wasn't including its tail.

"Here kitty kitty!"

"Claire, that thing could take one of your eyes out!" Chris snapped, ready to snatch his sister away from the fur that seemed to be everywhere. Claire in turn stuck her tongue out at him, instead leaning towards that cat, reaching an arm out and beckoning with her hand for it to come over to her.

"Come on handsome! Come closer so I can take a better look at you!" She cooed, the cat barely moving. Its ear twitched, seemingly in annoyance. It gave no sound, nor any other movements.

"Aw, what's wrong sugar? I'm not gonna hurt you." Claire continued to purr, despite Chris now stating certain things in attempts to get her to actually up and leave now. "Just come over here. Ooo, was your daddy a tiger or something? You're certainly impressive!"

The compliments seemed to sway the cat somewhat. It rose to its feet, eyeing Claire suspiciously before actually taking a step forward. It gave a sniff, as if testing the air, before taking another step. "Come on Sweetie, just a little closer!"

"Claire, seriously! If that thing sits on your lap, it's gonna break both your knee caps!" Chris stated, Joseph finding the whole thing rather entertaining and laughing accordingly.

The cat residing on Claire's lap meowed loudly, before contently getting off and moving to sit next to a Russian Blue. The Tortoiseshell, in turn, took his good ol' time, ignoring Chris and Joseph's presence completely. Claire didn't move her hand back, rather, tried to reach forward to stroke the cat as it came closer. Which was rather hard, as many other cats were in the way… Though oddly, they moved out of the Tortoiseshell's way.

The cat brushed the side of its head against Claire's hand, waiting a moment. Unable to resist, she gave it a scratch behind the ear, bring her free hand to her mouth and squealing slightly. Despite it's original reaction, the cat purred quite loudly, and was rather fast in it's pace onto Claire's lap.

"Isn't it pretty, Chris?"

"Get it off you!"

Once again she ignored her brother, nothing particularly new when it came to situation with these creatures. She'd slipped her hands under the cat's front legs, holding it up. Rather heavy, not surprising for its size. "Oh gosh, you're gorgeous! … _And_ you're a boy! You're a special kitty, did you know that?" She turned her head to look at Joseph as she went on, "Did you know they're meant to be lucky?"

The cat pushed a paw against Claire's cheek, clearly wanting her attention again. She looked back at the cat, placing it back on her lap, though it seemed to come up past her shoulder. Moving its paw from her cheek, and instead rubbed its cheek against hers, purring loudly and contently while pressing against her.

"He's such a cutie!"

"Alright Claire, that's enough, stop bonding with the fat arse of a cat!" Chris whined, rather tired and knowing it could drag on for quite a bit more time. A day or two, if give a chance.

Understanding him very clearly, the cat hissed loudly at the older Redfield, lowering its head and arching its back. It jumped off Claire's lap, and darted off somewhere quickly.

Claire shot a glare at Chris, looking quite hurt. "You hurt its feeling!" She declared.

"Claire, it's a cat, how the hell can I have hurt its feelings?" Chris groaned, shaking his head and Claire finally stood up, covered in cat hair.

"This mean we're cuttin' the tour short?" Joseph asked, only receiving a nod from Chris in return, watching him grab his sister by the wrist and trudge off in the original, intended direction.

* * *

**Incubus**  
Incubus are of course, the male versions of the  
Succubus. The one you know about more differs from  
Person to person. Some time ago, they were often  
Said to be the causes of unexplained pregnancies, usually  
The cover for incest or other unpleasant occurrences.

As one would imagine, they are most distinguished  
By their sexual drive. This is mainly what seems  
To define them commonly. They were also said to be  
Ice cold, and repeated intercourse with one would  
Severely damage one's health, sometimes resulting  
In death. Although this is based more on religious traits.

* * *

A/N;

Lol, my little Incubus description is very poor. But, seriously, it's 4:11am. When I get a chance after work tomorrow, I'll probably rewrite it and make it better XD


	3. Botos go ClickClickClick, Apparently

A/N; Uhm. Yay, whoo xD? Haha I don't know.

So far : Chris, Claire, Joseph, Leon, Kevin, Ashley, David, Barry (Mentioned), Forest (Mentioned).

* * *

"Damn it, why isn't he back yet?"

The sea was rather calm that day. Every so often a small wave would roll in, colliding with very little impact against rocks and the shore. Above the gulls were more quiet than usual, perching every so often on some rocks protruding from the ocean water, or settling on the random bits of Flotsam and Jetsam. Or the occasional pair of binoculars.

As soon as the webbed feet set down on the dark plastic, the free hand of the annoyed girl swatted at the group of white feathers. While the rocky seat she occupied bothered her little, the flying buzzards certainly did.

"You only want him to be back so that he might have the other him with him." Hazel eyes shot a glare at the aquatic creature close behind her, floating along with the waves. He seemed to be looking at her rather pitifully, mocking her before thinking over his last statement. "… Okay, that's sorta confusing."

The blonde girl nodded in return, her nasty look at him easing. "Yeah a--- Hey, shut up or else I'll give you a second blowhole, Flipper." Naturally that easing hadn't lasted very long, the girl appearing rather high strung and annoyed.

"You know my name missy, so use it!" The dolphin rolled his eyes as he said this, shaking his head slightly from side to side.

"Likewise." She huffed, moving her gaze back behind the binoculars. That orange, scaled tail of hers shifted, causing a few stray bits of rock to break off from under, tumbling down and sinking into the ocean. "Stupid things like you don't---"

"Can you two _stop_ bic---?"

"Stay out of this David!" She snapped in reply to the very tired looking man behind her. He pinched the bridge of his nose, barely responding at all, instead the dolphin pepping up once more.

"You see! Whenever he talks you go all Pissy Hormonal Woman on his arse!" He stated, waving his flippers as much as he could. "No wonder he never talks, let alone sings!"

"Oh please, he probably has the worst sonata voice imaginable!" She huffed, quite upset that she couldn't concentrate on her spying. The dolphin muttered something under his breath, before looking at David.

"Why are you even here? You seem to get dragged along every day with this fish!"

"Watch it!"

David thought over it for a moment, shrugging as he finally gave him answer. "Hm. These mermaids, can't look after thems---" He answered, looking away from the two.

"Pfft, should have just given the chicka a knife, ya know." The dolphin cut in, not seeing the hypocrisy in doing so.

"If Ashley had a knife, she'd wind up killing hers---"

With that, Ashley shoved the young man off the rock, bringing about a very loud splash. She huffed once more, bringing the binoculars back to her eyes and refusing to acknowledge anything the two brutes would say.

* * *

A house, a god blessed house.

Even though she had only taken a few steps in, Claire had been rendered speechless. It wasn't a spectacular house – A standard house really, but rather big. While there was practically no furniture – Save for a couch and the general kitchen appliances that were actually needed to live in this day and age – The house seemed bare. The only thing in what could be assumed 'bedrooms' were a few sheets and covers on the ground, makeshift beds that might not have been too comfortable for most.

The floorboards seemed rather old, sustainable though, and the paint on the walls – Both inside and out, was beginning to peel. The kitchen itself was dusty, just like the rest of the house – Both upstairs and down.

Whilst Claire's steps had been more even, better paced, Joseph's had resulted in a slip, followed by a loud thud. The floors seemed to just have layers and layers of dust on it, leaving him to wonder how long it had been since the place was inhabited as he picked himself up.

"Sorry it's not the greatest…" Chris mumbled, directed to both followers as he helped Joseph back to his feet, who promptly fell back over. "This place is…"

"Great."

Both men looked at the young Redfield oddly as she'd turned around to look at them both, a grin across her face. Joseph so far wasn't impressed in the slightest, and Chris himself had expected Claire to not speak to him for weeks on end.

"… Great?"

"It's fantastic…" She breathed. She ducked down for a moment, taking off her boots and shoving them across the ground to rest next to the door. With mismatched socks, she took a few steps across the wooden floors, looking at the walls repeatedly, back and fourth, "… It needs some work, so what? This place is just perfect… How did you even find a place like this, Chris?"

Joseph himself was gob smacked, having a quite different opinion on the place, but knew better than to speak up at that point. Chris in turn shrugged to answer his younger sister, glancing off to the side as she took a run and slid across the floor, moving quite well in socks.

"I have my places." He answered simply.

Claire turned, moving her hands to her hips. "_Tell me_."

"Can't give my sources." Chris smirked, raising his hands in defense. The girl rolled her eyes, heading through one of the doors to a hallway. Only moments later a quick shout of 'Dibs!' could be heard.

"No. Seriously. The hell did you get this dump?" Joseph asked, lying down on the floor and not tempting fate by taking standing position again. Chris tossed him a glance, running his fingers through his hair before he shook his head.

"This was the place our parents were paying off before… You know." He answered quietly, not fond of remembering. Joseph bit his tongue, feeling somewhat guilty for insulting the living space. "Managed to convince the landlord to let me start paying it off again, used a bit of the savings. Just gotta kind a way to keep on up with those payments."

"That why you wouldn't tell Claire?"

"It'd break her heart." He sighed, shoulder slumping. "I know her. She'd start crying then refuse to sleep here, she's had enough bad things happen over the last month to last her a life time, let alone remind her of things before that…"

"Secret's safe with me, man." Joseph assured him, motioning the zipped mouth move.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. Now I'm gonna go scope out and see what room _I_ can snag, since it seems Claire's scored the best one." With that, he cautiously trekked over the dusted floors, heading to the same hallway Claire had entered.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'll just… Lie here, for awhile…"

* * *

"Hey, you guys, it's getting late! … Guys?"

As far as memory could serve, there had been a long running schedule they had all followed when it came to that time of day – Dinner time. It was a simple thing of taking turns for who cooked that night. And it was Claire's turn. And she wasn't shouting back, either in protests or with requests to give her five more minutes.

Joseph had managed to crawl across the ground, dare not walking over the treacherous terrain, down the hall and where he hoped would be Claire's room. He knocked loudly, called once again, before letting himself in.

"Claire dammit! Food, your turn, starving, please!" He glanced around and saw no sign of her, at least until he looked down. Redfields, as Joseph had come to known, were very sound sleepers. Claire was certainly no exception, even if she was sleeping on a tough wooden floor. Apparently the few sheets and covers served as enough comfort for her to fall asleep… Again. And there was no waking her until she was good and ready.

Joseph whined, counting his losses and leaving the room. Well, from one Redfield to another, it had to be Chris' turn to cook. It took him a few trial and error shots to find it, opening the same linen closet three times, but he soon enough found the room Chris had taken.

"You're not going to believe it, that sister of yo--- Oh damn it all."

Just like his sister, Chris had taken to falling sleep on the floor as soon as he had set down. While Chris was easier to wake up than Claire, doing so could learnt Joseph the loss of an eye.

He wondered out, muttering to himself as he cautiously navigated the slippery environment. "Don't mind me, don't mind me. I'll just, I don't know. Go find a fruit tree or something to forage from, even if it was Forest who was better at that junk."

* * *

"Thunderstorms… I love thunderstorms…"

Claire turned onto her side, wrapped up tightly in the thin sheets that had been laid out on her bed. Thunder had woken the girl up, as it had the other few residents of the house, but it was a warm reminder of the past for her.

The smell of the rain and the water pitter pattering against the roof was always such a good remedy for her problems. Try as she might to stay away, continue to smell the scent, listen to the rhythm above, her eyes failed to stay open. Smiling softly, she could feel herself drift off to sleep, happy that it had come so easily. It brought back memories of many different nights she'd spent in France, years ago before she and Chris had lost their parents. For a second time she fell back into a restful sleep for the rest of the night.

Whilst the younger Redfield slept peacefully, as well as the blonde on the couch in the potential lounge room, the elder Redfield… Had no such luck in the rain.

Tossing and turning brought no relief, and with good reason. Each time Chris seemed to settle, just slipping into sleep, there was a loud knock on his window. Each time he looked over, it was usually the same thing – If there was lightning, he could see the figure of a large cat, if not, nothing but the dark, with the exception of the glowing blue eyes.

Growing more and more tired, he was getting more and more irritated. Though the hits against the window had stopped, there were now pitiful yowling each time a new sheet of rain came down.

_Serves it right_. He thought bitterly to himself, regretting the little greeting session with the cat from earlier that was no doubt the same large cat outside his window.

He let his eyes close for just a moment, before another paw slapped against the window, the creature crying out louder like it was pleading to be let in from the onslaught of rain. Chris' eyes shot open, glaring at the window. He clenched his teeth, now wishing that the soaking thing would just get struck by lightning.

"_Meooooow…_"

"For the love of Christ, shut upppp!"

Chris grabbed his pillow, placing it over his head and pressing against his ears. How long had this thing been keeping him up? Four, Five hours? For the love of god, he just wanted to sleep. He had a lot he needed to start getting organized, and he couldn't do it trudging around like a zombie.

"Meow?"

"Fuck off!"

Now while he was normally quite calm and rather sweet natured, depriving him of his sleep was always a way of making the cracks show. Cracks that were never there unless he was starving or being forced to suffer insomnia.

"Maaaiiooow…"

No, pillow method wasn't working. Thus he threw that onto the ground, glaring dagger's at the cat on the windowsill outside. Of course the cat probably couldn't see it as such, no could he actually see the cat in question, but it was the thought that counted.

"I'm _warning you_."

"Meow."

"I swear to god if you don't stop it I'll come out there and strangle you myself!"

The two seemed to stare at each other in the dark, the cat trying to catch Chris' bluff and Chris himself egging it on. Had it finally bailed? After a couple of minutes Chris couldn't quite tell, and staring off into the darkness made his eyes grow even more tired – If it were humanly possible.

He closed his eyes, ignoring the absence of a pillow. Finally, sweet sl---

"… Meow."

"**That does it**!" In a fraction of a second he'd leapt out of bed (Or rather, thrown off the sheets), and over to the side of the room, slamming his fists hard against the window. The cat on the other side gave a loud, startled meow, practically launching itself off of the window sill and diving onto the ground below.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you damn feline mongrel!" Chris snapped, banging his fists against the window one more time as he was just to pick up the cat running off into the rain. "Ugh, I _hate_ cats!"

Sluggishly, he managed to drag himself back to the makeshift bed, slumping down and finally curling up to go to sleep. The rain he could ignore, but if that damn cat came back again… Ugh. He was definitely giving Claire a talking to when they'd both actually woken up.

* * *

**Nix**

Nix are mentioned in German and Scandinavian  
Folklore. They are usually shown as humans,  
Although are said to be somewhat of shapeshifters.  
They are water spirits, and usually appear by brooks  
Or waterfalls. For whatever reason, the Nix in this  
Story appears to inhabit the coastline instead.

Nix were able to lure people into a body of water  
To drown, the most susceptible to their tricks being  
Pregnant women or unbaptised women. They were  
Usually either singers or skilled players of the violin,  
This luring those people into the water. One story tells  
Of a Nix whom appears at a festival, asked for a dance  
With a beautiful girl, and lead her back to water.

David, **Chanson des loups**'s Nix, very rarely  
Talks or sings at all – And when he does, he's  
Often cut off by Ashley or the Boto. Whether that's  
The only reason for having no desire to talk has  
Yet to actually be confirmed.

* * *

A/N; You know, I had no freaking idea how hard it was to write Ashley. Ugh, I'll probably go over this again one day and fix it up. I don't think I got her as in character as I'd like. You know I pride myself on those sorts of things =|


End file.
